Numero oggetto
81/67
Titolo
The Wanzer,
Creatore
Descrizione
This is a sewing-machine from The Wanzer Company Ltd. with serial number 65630. It was patented in 1862 and manufactured in Hamilton, Ontario. It is a shuttled machine, with a curved needle and crystal presser foot. It forms a lock-stitch. The machine is made of cast iron, painted black, with a porcelain handle. The object is part of the Barnett Collection.
Invented in the early 19th century, the sewing machine sped up the process of making clothes both domestically and commercially. Within the home, it reduced the amount of time women spent tailoring clothes for their families, enabling them to craft more garments for sale. Due to the sewing machine, the clothing industry flourished, with different fashions becoming available for the middle classes. However, workers did not see an increase in wages and they suffered in dreadful working conditions. The demand for better wages formed an important arm of the suffragette movement.
Descrizione fisica
1 sewing machine: metal, ceramic
Storico archivio
MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – 'Standard museum name: Sewing machine // Accession number: 81/67 // Classification: // Negative number: // Acquisition method: // Acquired from, date: Barnett Collection // Store: // Condition: // Recorder, date: JVB. 27.7.81 // Description: Wanzer Sewing Machine company Ltd sewing machine 'The Wanzer' // 'Time Utilizer' trade mark patented 1872, '73, '74, '75. No, 65630 // Dimensions: // Associated information: Patented in 1862. Manufactured in Hamilton County, Canada West. A shuttle machine, with a curved needle and crystal presser foot. 'Simple in construction, easy to manage, difficult to derange, and capable of passing from the heaviest to the finest material without breaking the thread, producing in all cases the same stitch, and without change of tension or alteration of needle.' Forms the lock-stitch. // References: The Ironmonger, June 30 1869, pages 474 and 475 (article with illustrations). Barnett catalogue No 19', Citation in publication [E.J. Barnett, ‘Sewing machines: a catalogue of the Barnett collection’ ([Reading]: University of Reading, 1982] – ‘19 // Small lock-stich and two Wanzers [All these small cast iron machines were made in the nineteenth century and worked on the long shuttle principle.]’ (pp. 14), Printed Report – Ray Batchelor 15 February 1983 - 'MUSEUM OF ENGLISH RURAL LIFE, UNIVERSITY OF READING. // … 81/67 Wanzer ’A’ Sewing Machine. Canadian, c1877.', Barnett Collection Review (2011) - 'This machine was made in Canada by Richard Mott Wanzer, who was based in Hamilton, Ontario. This was a popular domestic machine. Wanzer held a contract for all the schools in Ireland.', MERL Miscellaneous note – R. M. Wanzer and Co. was a rare example of a successful early sewing machine company based outside of the USA. It was established in Hamilton, Canada in 1858 and expanded, purchasing the rival Canada Sewing Machine Company in 1878. The Little Wanzer was its most famous product, manufacturing half a million by 1876 and winning a prize medal at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1867. The company employed 800 workers and sold many machines internationally, particularly to England and France. It went bankrupt in 1892. [Added by Tim Jerrome for the Barnett Project, 2022]
Luogo di produzione
Hamilton
Data
1877 - 1877
Nome oggetto
Materiale
Dimensioni
- Height 280 mm
- Length 350 mm
- Width 160 mm